


Hypothesis

by PartlyCloudySkies



Category: Deltarune (Video Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Crush, F/F, Study Group, chill times down at the librarby, give undyne her girlfriend back, how we playin this idk, nosie, suelle, suselle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-14 16:54:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16496513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PartlyCloudySkies/pseuds/PartlyCloudySkies
Summary: Every great scientific inquiry begins by asking a question.Noelle asks a question.





	Hypothesis

At around the 15-minute mark, Noelle was partway towards convincing herself that Kris had pranked her once again.

Which would be fine! Ha ha! Pranked again. Except usually this kind of thing would be a lot less subtle, with a lot less room for doubt. Right now she was sitting at the Librarby’s one table by herself. This was a thing that happened _a lot_ in a non-prank context so nobody suspected anything except for herself. So it was like a weird kind of inside joke that only she could appreciate.

Ha ha.

It all began when Kris had suggested that they all buddy up for the group project. Kris and Noelle and Berdly and… and…

Susie.

Berdly had protested loudly. He went on about Kris wanting to ride on the coattails of genius and while Noelle would never think in such terms she did suspect that maybe Kris’ group was struggling. Between the two of them, Susie _was_ famous for — and here Noelle’s brain flipped through a mental index of kindest possible descriptors — being less than cooperative in collaborative environments. And Kris… well… Kris would rarely/occasionally/semi-constantly forget to bring a writing implement to school to the point that Noelle brought extras just in case.

And all these might have been salient points to bring up in the kind of tactful manner that Berdly was gleefully failing at, except Susie was _right there_ and she had been looming behind Kris with her arms — big arms — crossed and her legs spread in a wide stance like she was just ready for action and when Berdly had made a particularly indelicate remark Susie flexed her arms and she smiled that smile that showed off her sharp, triangular teeth — big, _big_ teeth — and Berdly shut up and slinked away.

Noelle didn’t slink away. It was weird how everyone tended to do that around Susie. It was something Noelle didn’t understand at all. On a purely theoretical level, yes, Noelle understood Susie was intimidating. She was very tall and very broad and her hair — which was large and flowed down her back in messy chestnut cascades that made Noelle daydream in class about sitting Susie on the seat of a park bench while Noelle sat behind her to comb through the tangle of the thick locks and — oh goodness Noelle was literally drooling on the table and the head Librarbian was staring.

Noelle shook her head and composed herself. Fighting down the urge to run away or hide under the table, she wiped at the puddle of drool and ignored the gross damp spot on her sleeve. The point she was trying to make was that Susie had big hair that sometimes hid her expressive eyes and that could make it hard to gauge her mood and that combined with her imposing size could drive people away.

It didn’t drive Noelle away. It drew her in. Susie had gravity and Noelle orbited her like a captured moon, tidally locked to face her way.

Maybe Noelle was fooling herself but it was easy to believe when Kris had said Susie was nice. If it was a prank it was the kind that she’d walk into just out of the sheer hope that it was true. So after Kris suggested that they all team up and after Berdly had stopped objecting, Noelle agreed to it on behalf of everyone. Susie, for her part, continued looming. She was great at looming, Noelle thought.

So that was how she wound up at the Librarby. Alone. Suspecting she had been pranked. She sighed and slouched, arms braced on the table. If that’s how it was then at least she was here. She could study on her own or look up some good books. There were worse places to be. Noelle had positioned herself against the wall, facing the entrance so she could see her friends come in and so far it was just her. The head Librarbian sat at the check-out counter doing a crossword puzzle.

Noelle didn’t know how long she had been staring into the middle distance when the entrance doors slid open and she heard the stomp of heavy shoes dulled on the threadbare carpet. Susie stepped in with what Noelle would have believed was a slight hesitation if she hadn’t already convinced herself that Susie walked through the world as if she owned every bit of it. The Librarbian eyed her warily and Susie returned that wariness with a lazy, insolent kind of sneer. Noelle raised her hand and waved urgently, eager to catch Susie’s attention before she picked a fight or something.

Susie craned her head in Noelle’s direction and nodded towards her. Noelle wore a hopeful smile.

“Hey,” said Susie. She sat down at the table, her back to the entrance. Already this was going far better than Noelle had hoped for.

“Hi, Susie!” she said. There was a moment where her heart did a thing that made her dizzy, but Noelle bore down on that lightness. She could hold a conversation, really she could. “Is… um… Kris on the way?”

“Nah.”

“…No?”

“Busy with something, said to go on ahead, though. So I went on ahead.” Susie gave a slow shrug. Noelle watched Susie’s shoulders move under her clothes with undue interest.

“Well,” Noelle managed after a moment. “I’m glad you did.”

Susie tilted her head and the corners of her mouth twisted quizzically. “Really?”

“Yeah!” said Noelle.

“What about your partner. The nerd.”

“Oh,” Noelle said with a start, because yeah, what about Nerdl — Berdly? “Well, um, I…”

On cue, the Librarby doors slid open, unnoticed by Susie. From her vantage point Noelle saw Berdly coming in. She watched as Berdly looked up from his phone, took one look at Noelle, then his eyes shifted to look at Susie. He made a face somewhere between terror and distaste. Then he silently mouthed _nope_ and took a step back. Then another step back. Then he turned on his heels and walked back out the door.

Noelle waited a beat, then looked back at Susie with a big smile. “I got a text from him, he said he couldn’t make it either. So it’s just us!”

“Huh,” said Susie. “Not much point to this if neither of our partners are here. Guess I’ll see you later.” She planted both hands on the table and made to get up.

“W-wait!” said Noelle. She looked up at Susie, who was halfway to standing. “Um. I mean. Um. We. Can. Still… uh… do some work? A little? Maybe?” Noelle could hear the edge of a plea in her voice, but what of it? The stars had to align in order to get her alone with Susie and she was not about to let the opportunity go without a fight.

Susie frowned. Then after a pause that stretched into the verge of awkward she settled back at the table. “I guess. Though that scrawny little freak owes me,” she said with a grumble. Noelle beamed.

Being alone with Susie was all well and good, but there was a project to do. Noelle excused herself and started gathering source material. It also gave her time to compose herself. _Be cool, you can do this. You have literally never been cool, but you can learn in the eight seconds it takes to get from the bookshelf to the table._

When she returned with a small pile of books, Susie was looking at her. From beneath the curtain of her messy hair, Noelle could feel her stare.

“You’re weird,” said Susie.

“A-am I?” said Noelle. She tilted her head and ran her finger over one antler.

“None of the other dweebs would sit this close to me voluntarily.” Susie gave Noelle a big, predatory smile. “They’re too scared.”

Noelle leaned in automatically and that seemed to catch Susie off guard. “I don’t think you’re scary,” Noelle said.

“Really?” the skepticism positively dripped from Susie’s voice.

“Y-yeah! I’m sure, I mean, um, I’m sure you…” _What do you say in this kind of situation?_ Noelle thought frantically as she searched for a way to complete her sentence. _What would Dad do? No, I’m not going to call her ‘hot,’ Dad. Although… NO! Okay. Same principle, less mortifying. An actual compliment._ “I think you’re probably — definitely — nice!”

“I’m definitely not nice,” said Susie.

Noelle deflated. “Oh. W-well…”

“You’re friends with Kris,” said Susie. It wasn’t a question.

“Oh, yes. Since we were little.” Noelle was grateful for the topic change. “Kris always liked to play pranks. Hiding in places and popping out to scare me. Using ketchup to make me think it was blood. That kind of thing.”

This seemed to take Susie aback. “Huh. Didn’t think the little weirdo was capable of that.”

“Are… you two friends?” This was a thing that occupied Noelle’s mind. Ever since their teacher had sent them on that trip to get chalk, all of a sudden the two were seen hanging out more often.

“Hm. Yeah. I guess. I mean, I’d smack that twerp, but…” there was a pregnant pause and Noelle watched Susie intently. “Kris… has more guts than you could tell just by looking, I guess.”

Noelle smiled and leaned heavily on the table to close a bit more distance between her and Susie because she heard an unexpected vulnerability in Susie’s voice. There were depths at work here that no one else suspected, Noelle could feel it. Depths that no one else even bothered to look for, and how they had deprived themselves for that.

“You often can’t tell much about anyone just by looking, I think,” she said.

Susie tilted her head and her bangs fell over her eyes and draped themselves around her snout. “Nah. I mean, maybe sometimes. Like with Kris. But I think you can look at most people and tell if they’re the kind of dweeb who deserves to get pounded or not.”

“Where do I fall? Pound or not?” said Noelle.

Susie seemed to give this serious thought. “I guess not.”

Noelle giggled. “That’s a relief. It means we can get to work on this project.”

“I changed my mind,” said Susie, but she was smiling now. A genuine kind of smile. Big pointy teeth and warmth no one else would ever expect.

Then the doors slid open again and Noelle feared that Berdly had worked up the courage to come back and ruin the moment but this time the flash of blue was taller with a shock of red on top.

“HEY!” said Officer Undyne. “Any punks in here wanna do a crime?” She whipped her head back and forth. “Any criminals want to… what? What are you staring at me like that for?” This was to the Librarbian, who was giving her an arch look.

“I’m looking for a crime? Anybody planning? No? No one?” Noelle was no judge, but to her Undyne looked absolutely devastated as she slouched against the entrance. “GODDAMMIT I am so bored.”

She lurched back outside and the door slid shut behind her. They could hear her going “NGAHHH!” all the way down the street.

“God,” said Susie, who had hunched in on herself in an attempt to look inconspicuous. “That lady seriously needs a girlfriend.”

“Not a boyfriend?” said Noelle.

“Mm. Nah. You can totally tell with her.”

Noelle bit her lip. Internally she felt like she was standing at the threshold of something profound. She remembered how her Dad had said that his first words to her Mom had earned him a smack.

Noelle, who could barely sit through a horror movie, had come to the conclusion that some things might be worth risking a smack.

“Um… speaking of which…” she said, and Susie tilted her head inquisitively.

Noelle wet her lips and tried again. “Speaking of which…”

She took a deep breath…

And asked.


End file.
